Derek McInnes (1995 to 2000)
Although a Paisley boy, Derek began his professional career and made his name with Greenock Morton.
The Cappielow side signed 16-year-old McInnes from Gleniffer Thistle in 1987 and by the age of 21, Ton’s manager, the legendary Allan McGraw, had made the talented young midfielder his captain. Having established himself as a first team regular during their First Division campaign of season 1988/89, Derek was soon displaying the leadership qualities that would see him enjoy a long career in Management once his playing days came to an end.
The early 1990’s would see a crop of talented players emerging at Cappielow and Morton would reach the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup in 1991, agonisingly losing to eventual winners Motherwell 5-4 on penalties, a replay having again failed to separate the two sides. Whilst friend and team-mate Brian Reid would catch the eye over those two matches and promptly earn a move to Ibrox, Derek would have to wait a further four years before signing with his boyhood heroes.
It was a case of better late than never; Rangers having shown a genuine interest in the 17-year-old player following his initial step up from Gleniffer Thistle to Morton. Perhaps McGraw, an undoubted friend of Rangers, had already seen enough to alert the Scottish giants. Despite interest from Liverpool and Manchester United, McInnes would stay put, making over 250 appearances for the Greenock side in the second and third tiers of Scottish football.
Signing for Rangers in November of 1995 for £300,000, Derek’s first Ibrox appearance of season 1995/96 came in Morton colours as Rangers ran out 3-0 winners in a League Cup tie. With Paul Gascoigne making his first competitive domestic appearance for the Club, it was not an overly comfortable afternoon for the England star in direct opposition to the wannabe teammate. Whilst Gazza eventually secured his goal, McInnes had shown he was not one to respect reputation and within a matter of months Walter Smith had swooped to add a valuable asset to his star-studded squad.
Such was Derek’s desire to pull on the famous blue jersey, he headed to Pittodrie the moment he had fulfilled his signing duties in order to turn out for the Reserves. A first team debut arrived on 9th December 1995, Rangers narrowly overcoming Partick Thistle at Ibrox thanks to Gordon Durie’s second half goal. McInnes partnering the emerging Charlie Miller in the Gers midfield. Derek would remain involved over the next few weeks, but it was not an ideal start to life at Ibrox as hernia, groin and knee injuries would see him face three separate operations inside his first six months at the Club. With Gascoigne having already inspired Rangers to an eight consecutive League Championship triumph, Derek was back in the starting line up as Gers comfortably defeated Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in the final match of the campaign.
Derek’s first Rangers goal came in his first outing of the following season, and a vital one it was. An early substitute during the UEFA Champions League qualifier with Russian side Alania Vladikavkaz at Ibrox, the home side were toiling badly in this early season encounter. Making his European debut, it was Derek’s 51st minute strike which levelled the scores and seemed to ignite hopes of achieving back-to-back qualification to the Group stages. Rangers would eventually win the match 3-1 and the turnaround was completed when McInnes was part of the starting XI which mauled the Russian side 7-2 in the second leg.
Having battled back from those initial injury setbacks, Derek’s patience was rewarded as he went on to secure a league championship medal as Rangers clinched NIAR. Appearing in 20 of a possible 36 league matches (frequently as a substitute), McInnes had more than played his part and proved to be more than reliable when called upon. Although not featuring in the League Cup Final win over Heart of Midlothian, Derek had netted goals against Ayr United and Dunfermline Athletic during prior rounds. There were also Champions League appearances against Grasshoppers, Auxerre and Ajax to add to his CV. As the dust settled on a ninth successive title, it was Derek’s first ever league goal which proved to be the final one of that historic sequence (coming during a 3-1 reversal at Tynecastle).
Derek would make just 5 more starts over the following three seasons which witnessed Dick Advocaat replace Smith as Manager. Whilst the Dutchman would seek to build his side around midfielder’s Barry Ferguson and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, it was evident he trusted McInnes to do a job and none more so than when he handed him a shock first start of season in the 1999 Scottish Cup Final, Rangers defeating Celtic to clinch the domestic treble. Despite that success, the ruthless and unemotional style of Advocaat angered McInnes when he was soon advised by letter that he was not part of his plans. That lack of man management would eventually create disharmony within the Ibrox dressing room when Advocaat encountered more difficult times. It seemed unthinkable that Walter Smith would have handled the situation in such a manner and, interestingly, those who would later work under McInnes would draw comparisons to Smith.
Despite the realisation that his long-term future lay elsewhere, Derek remained at the Club and was brought back into the fold in October 1999 where he made 4 appearances including a memorable Champions League thumping of PSV Eindhoven in which he was given the job to nullify the threat of their star striker, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Derek’s final appearance came where it all started, at Aberdeen’s Pittodrie stadium albeit on this occasion it was far more high profile. A late substitute, Derek entered proceedings in time to see Jonatan Johansson complete a hat-trick as Rangers thrashed the home side 1-5.
Having experienced loan spells at Stockport County and French side Toulouse, Derek left Rangers on a permanent basis in the summer of 2000. League One (now Championship) side West Bromwich Albion paid £450,000 to secure the services of McInnes and, during his debut season, they qualified for the promotion playoffs before losing to Bolton Wanderers. Derek became a permanent feature of the WBA side and they reached the Premiership the following season following a second-place finish behind Manchester City.
During his time in the Midlands, McInnes represented Scotland on two occasions each time appearing as a substitute.
With WBA relegated at the end of season 2002/03, McInnes returned to Scotland where former Rangers player Ian McCall signed him for Dundee United and immediately appointed him as Captain. Derek spent three years at Tannadice before another former Ger, Nigel Spackman, made him skipper at The Den. His spell at the Lions was relatively brief and McInnes finished his playing career with St. Johnstone before soon taking over as manager of the Perth side.
by Rick Plews
